By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
Of the five biggest games of 2025 National League Cy Young award winner Paul Skenes’ college and pro pitching career, none have happened during his two seasons with the only Major League Baseball team he has played for – the Pittsburgh Pirates.
He had his latest most significant game Sunday night in going to 2-0 for the United States in the World Baseball Classic in Miami when he defeated the Dominican Republic’s star-studded lineup, 2-1, to put the U.S. in Tuesday night’s WBC championship game. Skenes allowed one run on six hits with two strikeouts in four and a third innings for the win on Sunday.
The U.S. lost the title, 3-2, to Venezuela on Tuesday night, but it didn’t take away from what Skenes, who pitched at Air Force before leading LSU to the 2023 national championship, felt pitching for his country.
“This is the heaviest jersey I’ve ever worn,” he said Tuesday. “You’ve got the weight of the country on your shoulders.”
In two World Baseball Classic games, Skenes was 2-0 with a 1.08 ERA over eight and a third innings with nine strikeouts, one walk and seven hits allowed.
His previous four most significant games were striking out nine in an eight-inning two-hit shutout of No. 1 Wake Forest to put the Tigers in the national championship series in 2023, starting the 2024 and ’25 MLB All-Star games, and his first start in the WBC when he beat Mexico, 5-3, with seven strikeouts, no runs and one hit allowed last week.
Skenes is still waiting and hoping he can help lead his Pittsburgh Pirates to the playoffs in his third year, or at least to some significant games after finishing last in the NL Central two straight years.
“This is up there with the biggest games we’re going to play all year,” Skenes said Tuesday. “Playoff atmosphere is how it’s been described to me. Fans were here four hours before the game. That doesn’t happen in the regular season. Just an unbelievable opportunity.”
Former LSU ace Aaron Nola of the Philadelphia Phillies pitched for Italy in the WBC. He was 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA in two starts over nine innings with eight strikeouts, two walks and one run allowed.
Nola’s former LSU teammate Alex Bregman of the Chicago Cubs struggled at the plate for the U.S., going 2-for-14 (.153) with a double, four RBIs and five walks.
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